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Hi Alyson,
Flooding and flash flooding would be an interesting topic to explore, especially as we live in a country with no shortage of rain. It would be interesting to explore the difference between ‘normal’ flooding and flash flooding. This is especially topical at the moment with the disaster in Texas. Some of the videos online showing how quickly the water levels rose is truly amazing and would be amazing to the children too. I might just not the tell the children, especially young children, that so many people lost their lives.
I like the reference also the waterlevel.ie website which would be a nice way to monitor water levels in our locality, especially on wet days.
The research question I would ask would be ‘Studying the temperature, rainfall and water resources of our local environment’.
I feel it is important to keep the question posed simple and easy to understand. I would select a timeframe also, so the boys can see the changes that are happening to the climate due to the behaviour of humans. I would perhaps try to get a picture of these changes to temperature and rainfall over the last 50 years, if possible, as this would clearly demonstrate to the boys the difference.
To engage the pupils I would question them about climate change and explain its meaning clearly so that everyone understands what they are investigating. I would then allow a class discussion to take place to ascertain the pupil’s knowledge of the topic. I would show them videos about the topic also like the one we saw in this course in an earlier module, which really would attract their attention,.
After that we would start some web research to find some data and explore how we could find the relevant data. I would divide the class into various mixed ability groups also so that everyone has a chance to be actively involved. Luckily in our area there is a national park which could be a valuable source of information.
Overall I feel that getting the boys engaged would be straightforward but trying to get all the information analysed and presented properly would be a greater challenge but might be worth doing in the year ahead!Hi Avril, I agree with you that tracking the satellite’s would be very entertaining for the children in the classroom. I like your idea of subscribing and getting alerts to when the Satellite would be travelling over Ireland.
The fact that the ISS travels over Ireland is useful also as you could do a lesson or two on the that alone, as there would be much to explore and learn. The recent rescue mission of the astronauts from the ISS a few months back would be an interesting story for the children also.
I explored a few of the apps outlined but in the end I used the Satellite tracker 3D on my laptop. I found it quite interesting observing the various satellites and was particularly surprised to see how quickly they were travelling. Some of the satellites I came across were:
1.Cosmos 1690 at an altitude of 1394 Km, Launched in 1985 by the Soviet union for military and government communications.
2.Cosmos 1321 at an altitude of 1490 KM which was launched in 1981
3.Flock 4g7 is a cubeSat satellite and was launched in May 2025. Its purpose is optical earth observation with a focus on high resolution imaging. By the time I googled this satellite a few minutes after it being over Ireland it was off the West coast of Africa!
4. Starlink 11164 at a height of 366km.
5.Starlink 32285 at an altitude of 480Km. This was launched by the USA in 2024 by SpaceX. The aim of the Starlink constellation of satellites is to develop a new space based internet communication system.
All in all its actually good fun looking at these satellites and the googling them to see what their purpose is. I believe the kids in my class would be fascinated by it also.Hi Aine, I agree with your views on not leading the lesson too much and allow the children to express their own views independently. There is such coverage about climate change nowadays that hopefully most children will have information/views they would like to share. I really enjoy a good, whole class discussion and this film and topic would certainly facilitate this. Also the film is a few years old now it seems, so it would be no harm finding more up to date videos showing the measures that are being taken now to save the planet.
The film Home was one of the most breathtaking and powerful documentaries I’ve ever seen. I do wish I had watched it on a larger screen rather than my laptop — the visuals truly deserve to be seen in full glory. As the film progressed, I found myself feeling increasingly saddened by the damage we’ve done to our planet. One moment that really stood out was seeing Dubai, a place with constant sunshine, reportedly not making use of solar panels. It’s hard to believe such potential is being overlooked. I hope this has changed since the film was made.
The film is filled with striking statistics that really highlight how industrialised the world has become and the deep inequalities that exist. At first, I worried the film might be too complex for my class to understand, especially during the more scientific sections. But once those passed, it turned into a very accessible and valuable resource that I could definitely see being used in the classroom — especially on an interactive whiteboard.
It is quite a long film, so I would likely show it in segments. Still, I believe it would be incredibly eye-opening for students, helping them gain insight into different cultures and ways of life. More importantly, it could help them appreciate what they often take for granted, things like access to clean drinking water or abundant energy resources.
I’m genuinely looking forward to watching it again, and I’ll certainly be using it as a teaching tool next year to support lessons on climate change and global awareness.
Hi Niamh, I like the idea of introducing role play into the lesson. Any opportunity that an element of drama can be introduced into the school day is always welcomed! It would really spark the children’s interest. Another activity I liked from module 2 was ‘who stole the jellies from the jar’ idea and examining the whole area of fingerprints. it would be a fun activity in the classroom and perhaps inspire a future generation of Guards!
Activity 3: Climate reporters. This is an excellent resource and really allows the children to understand the effects of climate on their future lives. Getting the children to work in groups is another aspect to the activity that I like. The Paxi video on greenhouse gases is very informative and would be attractive to the pupils. This could be used to introduce the topic and capture the children’s attention. The range of Paxi videos and animations will be a valuable resource when dealing with the whole area of climate/weather.
I found the Teal tool very interesting but also a little tricky and the information it produces too difficult for my own class group. I would need to simplify it before introducing with my class I feel. As other participants have noted I like that you can compare and contrast with other countries. This would be a fun thing to do in the class especially with so many pupils in my school coming from all over the world. Overall, another excellent resource that will be used in some way in my class next year.
I agree with you Monica in relation to the fact this whole topic gives us teachers an opportunity to move away from the textbooks for a part of the day and allow the children to explore the effects of climate change through research and collaborative, hands on learning. I’ll be teaching 3rd class next year and I can see them being highly engaged by the resources provided here and also the use of Ipads for research, always get a positive response!
In the ESA document Activity 1, I liked the fact the whole focus of the exercise is to gain an understanding of the differences between weather and climate from the off. And once the children understand that, they can then explore the two in more detail. Like other participants have mentioned, using the pupils birthdays is a clever way to attract their attention, particularly with younger classes. Also, making them explain both weather and climate in their own words is an excellent way for the children to demonstrate their understanding. Using the climate Zone video for pupils would be a very good way to introduce the whole topic also. It is a really good resource.
Activity 2 is a very engaging activity which the children will enjoy doing. It’s a fairly detailed exercise and would need a little altering to suit the classes I teach. From my experience the pupils can find it difficult creating accurate graphs using the correct scales etc. so this exercise, and the fact that the children were involved in gathering the data, might get them to engage more with their work.
Activity 3: Climate reporters. This is an excellent resource and really allows the children to understand the effects of climate on their future lives. The ‘Paxi’ videos and animations are very informative and would be attractive to the pupils. Getting the children to work in groups is another aspect to the activity that I like.The research question I would ask would be ‘Studying the temperature, rainfall and water resources of our local environment’.
I feel it is important to keep the question posed simple and easy to understand. I would select a timeframe also so the boys can see the changes that are happening to the climate due to the behaviour of humans. I would perhaps try to get a picture of these changes to temperature and rainfall over the last 50 years, if possible, as this would clearly demonstrate to the boys the difference.
To engage the pupils I would question them about climate change and explain its meaning clearly so that everyone understands what they are investigating. I would then allow a class discussion to take place to ascertain the pupil’s knowledge of the topic. I would show them videos about the topic also like the one we saw in this course in an earlier module, which really would attract their attention,.
After that we would start some web research to find some data and explore how we could find the relevant data. I would divide the class into various mixed ability groups also so that everyone has a chance to be actively involved. Luckily in our area there is a national park which could be a valuable source of information.
Overall I feel that getting the boys engaged would be straightforward but trying to get all the information analysed and presented properly would be a greater challenge but might be worth doing in the year ahead!I explored a few of the apps outlined but in the end I used the Satellite tracker app. I found it quite interesting observing the various satellites and was particularly surprised to see how quickly they were travelling. Some of the satellites I came across were:
1. Cosmos 1867 at an altitude of 804 Km, Launched in 1987 by the Soviet union to monitor the oceans for naval and merchant vessels.
2. Cosmos 1321 at an altitude of 1490 KM which was launched in 1981
3. Aqua was launched by the United States on 4th May 2002. It is an afternoon equator-crossing platform which includes a suite of sensors designed to study the diurnal properties of cloud and aerosol radiative fluxes, cloud formation, and precipitation.
4. Cosmos 794 at an altitude of 1501Km launched in 1976 used for communication.
5.Starlink 41 at an altitude of 295Km. This was launched by the USA in 2019 by SpaceX. The aim of the Starlink constellation of satellites is to develop a new space based internet communication system. By the time I googled this satellite a few minutes after it being over Ireland it was off the east coast of Africa.
All in all its actually good fun looking at these satellites and the googling them to see what their purpose is. I believe the kids in my class would be fascinated by it also.The film ‘Home’ was one of the most spectacular films I’ve ever seen. Even my 10 year old daughter watched it with me and was captivated by it! The more I watched of the film the more depressed I was becoming watching the destruction we have caused the planet. To see places like Dubai, which according to the video doesn’t use solar panels, is just astounding. How can this be? Some of the various statistics provided throughout the film really put into perspective how industrialised the world has become and the inequality that exists.
When the film started first I thought this would be too advanced for my class to understand but once the real scientific stuff finished it became a resource that could be easily used on the interactive whiteboard. It’s quite long so would be shown in instalments perhaps but it would really open the pupils eyes to the different cultures and ways of living in the world. It hopefully would make them appreciate their own lives and all the resources that are readily available to us such as drinking water. As another participant, Ciara pointed out, it would be a good idea to use the Greta Thunberg content to introduce the topic as the some of the class would be aware of her. It’s definitely a resource that I will be using in class next year to highlight climate change. I’m actually looking forward to seeing it again!Activity 3: Climate reporters. This is an excellent resource and really allows the children to understand the effects of climate on their future lives. The ‘Paxi video about greenhouse effect’ is very informative and the animation would be attractive to the pupils and would be a great place to start the lesson. It gives them the knowledge they need about greenhouse gases that they will need to effectively do the activity. Getting the children to work in groups is another aspect to the activity that I like and, as other participants have mentioned getting the children to use the Ipad’s would certainly help to keep the boys engaged.
I found the TEAL demonstrator tool very interesting but also a little tricky. I would need to simplify it before introducing with my class I feel. I like that you can compare and contrast the data with other countries. This would be a fun thing to do in the class especially with so many pupils in my school coming from all over the world. Overall, another excellent resource that will be used in some way in my class next year.In relation to Dr Liston’s article I feel she has highlighted an important point about STEM and how it is implemented in schools. It certainly has become very popular in schools but one would wonder is it only being done as ‘tick the box’ activity as opposed to being implemented properly. I have seen this in my own school where we have been working with Lego Spike kits for a number of years now. Usually this involved just going through the steps on the Ipad to create something. This year we were fortunate enough to be selected to take part in the ‘Weave’ project which allowed the children to identify a problem and use computational thinking to come up with a solution to the problem. This project allowed the boys to fully be exposed to STEM teaching in a true sense and they really enjoyed it. Like Grainne, we were also working with 5th class boys which was probably the ideal age group to tackle such projects.
Regarding Activity 1 from weather v climate, I liked the fact the whole focus of the exercise is to gain an understanding of the differences between weather and climate from the off. And once the children understand that, they can then explore the two in more detail. Perhaps using the pupils birthdays is a clever way to attract their attention, particularly with younger classes. Also making them explain both weather and climate in their own words is an excellent way for the children to demonstrate their understanding. Using the climate Zone video for pupils would be a very good way to introduce the whole topic also. Activity 2 is a very engaging activity which the children will enjoy doing. It’s a fairly detailed exercise and would need a little altering to suit the class I work with. From my experience the pupils can find it difficult creating accurate graphs using the correct scales etc. so this exercise, and the fact that the children were involved in gathering the data, might get them to engage more with their work.
Regarding the building of a weather station we actually have one already in our school with an anemometer which has been neglected for a few years so will look at getting that operational again in September. Overall, a very enjoyable module.
